1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to buoyant devices for supporting otherwise unfloatable objects on a liquid. In another aspect, the invention concerns a buoy for supporting a container in a generally upright position when the combined buoy and container are placed in water. In a further aspect, the invention concerns a buoy which is suitable for supporting various sizes of conventional beverage containers and allows the center of gravity of the combined buoy and container to be readily adjusted in order to restrain tipping.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Persons who enjoy recreational water activities, such as swimming and fishing, frequently desire access to beverages while in the water. However, during such recreational activities, it is typically undesirable to continuously hold a beverage because the use of both hands may be necessary to fully enjoy the recreational activity.
To address this problem, a variety of conventional floating beverage holders have been developed which can support one or more beverage containers on the surface of the water. Existing floating beverage holders, however, present a number of drawbacks. For example, most conventional floating beverage holders will not accommodate beverage containers of various sizes (i.e., having varying outside diameters). This is particularly disadvantageous when a person desires to use a beverage insulator to keep their beverage hot or cold. Because the thickness of conventional beverage insulators can vary greatly depending on their specific material of construction, insulated beverage containers will frequently not be suitable for use with conventional floating beverage holders. Further, even if the conventional floating beverage holder is designed to accommodate insulated beverage containers, such beverage holders are typically not suited for accommodating uninsulated beverage containers.
A further disadvantage of existing floating beverage holders is their size. The bulkiness of these conventional devices make it undesirable and/or impractical to pack, transport, and store these devices. This disadvantage is especially pronounced when persons enjoy recreational water activities at locations requiring substantial travel. When packing a limited amount of supplies to travel to a remote recreation location, including a bulky conventional floating beverage holder may simply be impractical.
A still further disadvantage of conventional floating beverage holders is the fact that the beverage container must be removed and reinserted into the holder every time the user takes a drink. This removal/reinsertion action can be difficult in the water, and often requires the use of two hands to grasp both the holder and the beverage container. The use of two hands to remove and reinsert the beverage into the holder can make the use of conventional floating beverage holders impractical, especially when enjoying recreational activities requiring the use of two hands.
Another disadvantage of conventional floating beverage holders is the inability to adjust the center of gravity of the combined holder and beverage container. This inability to adjust the center of gravity can be particularly disadvantageous when tall beverage containers, such as some conventional water bottles, are supported by the floating beverage holder.
An additional disadvantage of conventional floating beverage holders is that they tend to float away from the individual, thus making it necessary for the individual to relocate towards the beverage holder in order to take a drink of the beverage.
Responsive to these and other problems, an important object of the present invention is to provide a floating beverage buoy suitable for use with a variety of sizes of containers.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a floatable beverage buoy having a compact shape (especially a minimal thickness) which allows it to be easily packed, transported, and stored.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a floating beverage buoy having a compact shape and low weight which allows the buoy and the container to be readily manually manipulated as a single unit (i.e., a person can easily lift and consume liquids from the container without removing the container from the buoy).
Another object of the present invention is to provide a floating beverage buoy wherein the center of gravity of the combined buoy and beverage container can be readily manually adjusted in order to restrain tipping.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a floating beverage buoy which prevents the buoy and beverage container from floating away from an individual user and provides a means by which the container can be retrieved if it has floated out of the reach of the individual user.
It should be noted that not all of the above-listed objects need be accomplished by the invention claimed herein and other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention and appended claims.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a buoy for supporting any one of a variety of sizes of containers in a generally upright position when the buoy and supported container are placed in water is provided. The buoy generally comprises a buoyant body, a generally circular opening, and a resilient holding member. The opening extends through the body along an opening axis and is adapted to receive the container. The resilient holding member defines at least a portion of the opening and is adapted to frictionally engage the container when the container is received in the opening. The resilient holding member is sufficiently flexible to allow the diameter of the opening to be varied by at least 10 percent without causing substantial plastic deformation of the resilient holding member.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a buoy for supporting any one of a variety of sizes of containers in a generally upright position when the buoy and supportive container are placed in water is provided. The buoy comprises a body which presents an inner surface. The inner surface at least partially defines an opening extending through the body along an opening axis. The opening is adapted to receive the container. The inner surface presents a tapered portion. The tapered portion extends at a taper angle which is oblique relative to the opening axis when the container is not received in the opening. At least part of the tapered portion is elastically deformed by and frictionally engages the container when the container is received in the opening.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, a buoy for supporting any one of a variety of sizes of containers in a generally upright position when the buoy and supportive container are placed in water is provided. The buoy generally comprises a body presenting an outer perimeter and defining an opening extending through the body along an opening axis. The opening is adapted to receive the container. The body defines a plurality of spaced-apart, open slots extending between the opening and the outer perimeter. The open slots include an open end positioned adjacent the opening and a closed end positioned between the opening and the outer perimeter. The open slots allow the body to be sufficiently deformed so that the size of the opening can be varied to accommodate containers having various outer diameters without causing substantial plastic deformation of the body.